Captured Tapes Have No Colour

[dennis_3003]

Hi,

So I am trying to capture some of my VHS tapes onto a computer. I am using a Sony VCR which is plugged into a Composite - Audio - S-Video to USB converter. I have plugged in the VCR into Composite (Yellow) and the 2 audio cables. The software used is Arcsoft Total Media (though I did try Nero Video)

I have already captured 3 tapes and they all turned out good but some tapes just don't have any colour OR are half b&w and colour. I've connected the VCR to the TV and tv shows the colour but the computer doesn't. I inserted the tapes that I already captured and they still show fine on the PC.

I have tried all the settings including changing the PAL Version. I don't know what else to do.

Thanks,

Dennis

[JVRaines]

I had a similar problem with an Aussie VHS cassette. Whether I played it in any PAL mode or NTSC on a multi-format VCR, my converter could never find a color signal. I didn't have a scope available, so I never figured out what the problem could be.

[Cornucopia]

my guess is that it is a pal<->ntsc mismatch or a pal color field mismatch. what are the exact models of your vcr(s) and tv(s)?

@JVRaines, that almost assuredly is a pal<->ntsc mismatch.

These things can be fudged for quick&dirty direct playback, but for capturing, you really need to have ALL elements of the chain using the same system: PALvhs->PALvcr->PALtv/capturecard, NTSCvhs->NTSCvcr-NTSCtv/capturecard.

Scott

[jman98]

I have tried all the settings including changing the PAL Version. I don't know what else to do.

Well, to be blunt, describing the equipment used in a better way might be helpful. What's your capture device (make and model)? What exactly is this composite-audio-S-video to USB thing? Is it separate from the capture device? If we knew exactly what you were using instead of just the software involved we might be able to provide more specific suggestions, but I do agree with Cornucopia that this sounds like a classic NTSC<->PAL mismatch. And providing more helpful details on your tape(s) with problems would be good too. For example telling us that all your Australian VHS tapes work but those tapes your friend in Brazil sent you always have problems would be good to know. Something like that.

Like most newbies you erroneously conclude that the quickest way to get help is to provide as few details as possible, I guess out of fear that nobody will help you if you write more than 2 or 3 sentences. The more you tell, the more likely you are to get help.

[JVRaines]

my guess is that it is a pal<->ntsc mismatch or a pal color field mismatch. what are the exact models of your vcr(s) and tv(s)?

@JVRaines, that almost assuredly is a pal<->ntsc mismatch.

These things can be fudged for quick&dirty direct playback, but for capturing, you really need to have ALL elements of the chain using the same system: PALvhs->PALvcr->PALtv/capturecard, NTSCvhs->NTSCvcr-NTSCtv/capturecard.

Scott

I was using an ADVC110 which encodes NTSC or PAL depending on DIP switch setting. No matter how I configured the multi-system Panny and the ADVC, I could only get sync in monochrome. Another recording on the same tape played in color. It's possible the problem recording was accidentally made in mono, but I would be surprised because it was dubbed at Nine Network.

[jagabo]

Multisystem VHS decks output NTSC tapes as PAL60 -- NTSC's 60 fields per second but with PAL chroma. PAL TVs accepted PAL60 and played it properly. But most capture devices will give a greyscale result. If this is your problem you'll need capture device that supports PAL60 properly. Or a converting VHS deck (or standalone device) which will convert from NTSC to PAL and output a true PAL50 signal.

Sometimes when the signal on the tape is weak you'll get greyscale caps.

[JVRaines]

The recording was not NTSC. There was no sync playing it in my NTSC deck. With the multi-system VCR set to output PAL and the capture device set to input PAL, I got sync but no color. So maybe it was a bad color signal on the tape.

[hech54]

The recording was not NTSC. There was no sync playing it in my NTSC deck. With the multi-system VCR set to output PAL and the capture device set to input PAL, I got sync but no color. So maybe it was a bad color signal on the tape.

"Multisystem" VCRs are nothing more than PAL VCRs that can accept both 110 and 220 volts....IE every VCR sold in Europe during the last 10 years of their production. Unless you paid a LOT of money for that VCR, no menu setting in the world is going to change anything because the VCR itself does not change anything(it does NOT convert between NTSC and PAL on the fly - it only outputs a quasi signal that is easily read by European TVs, but not American TVs.)
Your American TV set cannot comprehend what is going on because it was never made to handle anything other than a true NTSC signal.

[JVRaines]

Thanks for the advice, but I actually do know what I'm doing. It was a Panasonic (I forget the exact model) with switches to output different flavors of PAL, SECAM and NTSC. I paid NO money because I borrowed it.

Now, about that American TV, please do look back a couple of posts and you'll find that I was concerned with an A/D converter, not a display.

[dennis_3003]

I have tried all the settings including changing the PAL Version. I don't know what else to do.

Well, to be blunt, describing the equipment used in a better way might be helpful. What's your capture device (make and model)? What exactly is this composite-audio-S-video to USB thing? Is it separate from the capture device? If we knew exactly what you were using instead of just the software involved we might be able to provide more specific suggestions, but I do agree with Cornucopia that this sounds like a classic NTSC<->PAL mismatch. And providing more helpful details on your tape(s) with problems would be good too. For example telling us that all your Australian VHS tapes work but those tapes your friend in Brazil sent you always have problems would be good to know. Something like that.

The Capture Device is Composite + S-Video + Audio L & R to USB, the make is a Maginon DVD Maker. The VCR is a Sony 6-head Stereo VCR, I don't know the exact model. The Tapes are all normal VHS tapes reordered here is Australia. The TV is a Panasonic TX-32LX1A.

[hech54]

Thanks for the advice, but I actually do know what I'm doing. It was a Panasonic (I forget the exact model) with switches to output different flavors of PAL, SECAM and NTSC. I paid NO money because I borrowed it.

Now, about that American TV, please do look back a couple of posts and you'll find that I was concerned with an A/D converter, not a display.

Dude. I've been there. I have a huge collection of Australian PAL video tapes and DVDs back home on the states(and now I live here in a PAL-Land). There is nothing I haven't encountered in the two decades of collecting video from PAL-Land BEFORE I moved to a PAL country.
Living in the states poses a HUGE and often unconquerable(with the wrong equipment and wrong information) obstacle with viewing foreign video....and capturing/recording is very, very, very difficult.
What you borrowed was a plain, ordinary PAL VCR....and an ADVC110 that "accepts" both NTSC and PAL signals.

You can keep beating your chest all you want, but I'm here to tell you that capturing a videotape that is NOT from there region you are sitting right now takes the perfect combination of equipment(VCR), hardware(capture device) and software(for said capture device). It's not easy....and if you see B&W you are not alone but you ARE doing something wrong. It is YOUR fault.

After years of searching, my combination for capturing anything with any VCR is:
PAL VCR (simply because I'm here in PAL-Land)
Hauppauge USB Live2
WinTV 7 (with a small setup learning curve)
NTSC tape in a PAL machine, PAL tape in an NTSC machine....no problems and all in color.